HF 3602

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 02/26/2024 04:10pm

A bill for an act
relating to health occupations; clarifying optometry scope of practice and unlawful
practice of medicine; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 147.081,
subdivision 3; 148.56, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 147.081, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Practice of medicine defined.

new text begin (a) new text end For purposes of this chapter, a person not
exempted under section 147.09 is "practicing medicine" or engaged in the "practice of
medicine" if the person does any of the following:

(1) advertises, holds out to the public, or represents in any manner that the person is
authorized to practice medicine in this state;

(2) offers or undertakes to prescribe, give, or administer any drug or medicine for the
use of another;

(3) offers or undertakes to prevent or to diagnose, correct, or treat in any manner or by
any means, methods, devices, or instrumentalities, any disease, illness, pain, wound, fracture,
infirmity, deformity or defect of any person;

(4) offers or undertakes to perform any surgical operation including any invasive or
noninvasive procedures involving the use of a laser or laser assisted device, upon any person;
or

(5) offers to undertake to use hypnosis for the treatment or relief of any wound, fracture,
or bodily injury, infirmity, or disease.

new text begin (b) For purposes of this chapter, a person not exempted under section 147.09 is "practicing
medicine" or engaged in the "practice of medicine" if the person performs, advertises, or
offers to perform an ophthalmic surgical procedure on the human eye or its accessory or
subordinate anatomical parts. An ophthalmic surgical procedure may only be performed by
a person licensed to practice medicine under this chapter or otherwise exempted under
section 147.09. An ophthalmic surgical procedure includes any procedure performed for
the purpose of structurally altering human or biologic tissue that entails using any technique
or instrument to cut, incise, excise, penetrate, suture, ablate, photo-ablate, photo-disrupt,
cross-link, scrape, vaporize, inject, burn, coagulate, cauterize, diathermize, ionize, freeze,
irradiate, infuse, or sonicate tissues of or near the eye, eyelid, or orbit.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 148.56, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Optometry defined.

(a) Any person shall be deemed to be practicing
optometry within the meaning of sections 148.52 to 148.62 who shall in any way:

(1) advertise as an optometrist;

(2) employ any means, including the use of autorefractors or other automated testing
devices, for the measurement of the powers of vision or the adaptation of lenses or prisms
for the aid thereof;

(3) possess testing appliances for the purpose of the measurement of the powers of vision;

(4) diagnose deleted text begin any deleted text end disease, optical deficiency or deformity, or visual or muscular anomaly
of the visual system deleted text begin consisting of deleted text end new text begin affecting new text end the human eye and its accessory or subordinate
anatomical parts;

(5) prescribe lenses, including plano or cosmetic contact lenses, or prisms for the
correction or the relief of same;

(6) employ or prescribe ocular exercises, orthoptics, or habilitative and rehabilitative
therapeutic vision care; or

(7) prescribe or administer legend drugs to aid in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation,
prevention, treatment, or management of disease, deficiency, deformity, or abnormality of
the human eye and adnexa included in the curricula of accredited schools or colleges of
optometry, and as limited by Minnesota statute and adopted rules by the Board of Optometry,
or who holds oneself out as being able to do so.

(b) In the course of treatment, nothing in this section shall allow:

(1) legend drugs to be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or by injection,
except for treatment of anaphylaxis;

(2) deleted text begin invasive deleted text end surgery new text begin , new text end including deleted text begin , deleted text end but not limited to deleted text begin , deleted text end surgery using lasers new text begin , pursuant to
section 147.081, subdivision 3, paragraph (b) new text end ;

(3) Schedule II and III oral legend drugs and oral steroids to be administered or
prescribed;

(4) oral antivirals to be prescribed or administered for more than ten days; or

(5) oral carbonic anhydrase inhibitors to be prescribed or administered for more than
seven days.